You Must Love Me
by 0-8-4
Summary: Summary of Ward's redemption. After Ward betrays the team, he is sent back to be with the team as somebody (the author) decided that would be the best idea. He doesn't fit in, but at least he has Skye by his side. Set to the song "You Must Love Me" (hence the title) from Evita.


_**Disclaimer-**__ I do not own Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D._

_**Story-**__ One-shot (at the current time). May be continued, but I'm not sure yet. Song is "You Must Love Me" from Evita (movie-version)._

* * *

_Where do we go from here?_

_This isn't where we intended to be_

_We had it all, you believed in me_

_I believed in you_

Ward remembered when he had first been her SO. Her rare smiles that lit up her face and her endless stream of complaints and arguments that made him want to bang his head against a wall until either the wall or his head cracked. However cliché it seemed, Skye had always been a light in the darkness for him. It hadn't taken Garrett long to find out about her and Ward found himself wishing that he could always protect her and hide her from HYDRA and more importantly, Garrett's clutches.

He knew she had loved him. Their kisses had been real and her bright smiles had become more of a common occurrence rather than a rare sighting. It wasn't until he was sitting across from her in the diner, did he realize that he had believed so deeply in her that he had been completely blind to what she had been doing.

"They're starting to ask people to get out. We should leave" Ward looked around nervously. He glanced at Skye, surprised to see her sitting calmly, typing away at her laptop. A small inkling of doubt started to trickle into the back of his mind, like black ink spreading across a blank page.

When Skye responded that she was fine staying where she was, the doubt immediately exploded throughout Ward's mind and he knew she had tricked him, taking advantage of his love for her.

She had run out of the diner, while Ward was trying to escape the clutches of several police officers.

"SKYE!" he yelled after her. He had finally broken free and shouted after Skye, even raising his gun to show that he didn't want to hurt her. And he really didn't want to hurt her; it was and always had been Garrett's plan. Garrett wanted to hurt her, just to break Ward.

_Certainties disappear _

_What do we do for our dream to survive?_

_How do we keep all our passions alive,_

_As we used to do?_

Skye frowned at the file in front of her. Ward should've been in prison; that was what he deserved. At least that's what the entire team believed, except for maybe Fitz. And Skye. Deep, deep, deep down she believed that it wasn't all Ward. There was no way that Ward, or at least the Ward Skye had known, had had the capacity to be so evil.

Garrett had twisted him so much; he had taken advantage of Ward when he had been past a breaking point.

She sighed and flipped the file closed. Ward was due on the Bus any minute now and Skye wanted to be the first to see him. Evidently everybody had the same idea, because Trip, FitzSimmons, Coulson, and even May were all standing down there.

Ward stepped out of the car and Skye noticed as his knuckles whitened on the strap of the bag he had over his shoulder. His eyes flitted quickly from person to person and Skye could see that he was looking for any shred of kindness. She surprised everyone, including herself as she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Ward.

"Welcome back, robot" she murmured into his ear. Skye could feel him trembling in her arms and she tightened her grip. Slowly she felt Ward's arms come up to encircle her. She heard his bag drop to the ground with a thump, heard Coulson telling everyone to leave them alone, and she heard Ward draw in a shaky breath like he was going to cry.

"What's happened to us?" she whispered.

_Deep in my heart I'm concealing _

_Things that I'm longing to say_

_Scared to confess what I'm feeling_

_Frightened you'll slip away_

Ward woke up screaming from a nightmare for the fifth consecutive night in a row. Skye was at his side in an instant, doe eyes sad and concerned. Ward leaned his head against her shoulder and closed his eyes, trying to clear the shards of the dream away. She ran her slim fingers through his hair and Ward realized he liked that sensation. He hadn't felt anything this comforting for years.

"Skye?" he murmured after a few minutes. She had him leaning back against her chest, a habit they had gotten into after every night.

"Ward?" she shifted next to him, her breath soft against his cheek.

"I-I…never mind," he mumbled. He couldn't bring himself to say the three words he had been desperate to say for months.

"Do you want me to stay?" she asked.

"It's okay" Ward shook his head.

Skye looked at him sadly, and slid off the bed, padding out of the bunk and closing the door behind her. She should have stayed, Skye told herself as she wrapped her arms around herself and walked back to her own bunk. She had seen the raw need in Ward's eyes and the reluctance with which he had told her to go. She hadn't even spent more than five minutes in there.

Ward closed his eyes and pressed his face into the crumpled, sweaty pillow. He felt the burning in his throat and his eyes and the warm wetness of tears and they trickled down his cheeks in silent rivulets.

"Skye…love you," he whispered. His hand was wrapped so tightly around the pillow, as if to prevent him from slipping away even farther than he already had.

_Why are you at my side?_

_How can I be any use to you now?_

_Give me a chance and I'll let you see how_

_Nothing has changed_

Ward could see that none of them, not even Skye really trusted him. Simmons always made some excuse not to be in the same room as him. Fitz always watched him, as though expecting Ward to push the scientist out of the Bus at any moment. Trip always had a thoughtful expression when he looked at the specialist that Ward could never quite place. Coulson only spoke to him to give him orders and May completely ignored him. He knew deep down, that he could never redeem himself, at least not in his or their eyes.

So Ward did what was asked of him, often going above and beyond. If he made lunch for himself, he always made enough extras for everyone else and left them on the counter or in the fridge. No one except for Skye, ever thanked him, yet the food was always gone the next day.

They were on what was a routine mission, except for the fact that Skye had her hands up and a HYDRA scientist was threatening to poison her. He had a needle less than an inch from her neck in one hand and a gun in the other. Ward, May, and Coulson all had their guns trained on him, but were forced to drop them as the scientist jerked Skye closer to him and the needle.

Ward could see the man's hands shaking and knew it wouldn't be long before Skye was dead. And he couldn't let that happen. He moved so fast that nobody even saw him until he was on top of the scientist and both were a blur. Skye had been knocked to the side and May and Coulson had their guns trained on the two men, but they couldn't shoot. Neither one wanted to hit Ward by accident.

There was a shot and Ward staggered back. May dove for her gun and fired not even bothering to watch the scientist fall as she ran to Ward. Skye had managed to crawl over to where Ward lay, blood already soaking through his shirt and pooling around him in a crimson puddle. Coulson had his hands pressed over the bullet wound and Skye was clutching Ward's hand.

"Please…Ward…" she begged softly, "please…I can't lose you."

Ward squeezed her hand, applying what little strength he had. He swallowed weakly, wishing he could say what he wanted to say. The pain in his gut was overwhelming him and he could barely manage a whimper, let alone an entire sentence.

Everything seemed to be fading and as Ward's head lolled to the side and he lost consciousness, he heard Skye say, "I love you…"

Sometime later, Ward struggled to open his eyes, thrashing in panic as they stayed shut. He could hear frantic voices around him. Only bits and pieces floated around him.

"Ward...Grant...calm down...please..." He recognized those voices and kept fighting to open his eyes. They were as heavy as lead weights and stayed firmly closed, leaving Ward trapped in a world of darkness. His chest was tightening in panic and he struggled to inhale. Dimly he felt someone pressing down on his shoulders, a damp cloth being pressed over his nose and mouth and he struggled even more, trying not to inhale the drugs. His last coherent thought was of how much he wanted to tell Skye that he loved her.

When he woke again, he noticed Skye lying with her head on his shoulder. Her fingers were curled loosely around his hand and her hair was sprawled across his chest. He shifted slightly, trying not to wake Skye, but he failed as she sat up, blinking her eyes sleepily and pushing her hair out of her face. Her eyes widened as she saw that Ward was awake.

"Ward!" she squealed and hugged him so tight, that Ward thought he was going to need an oxygen mask.

"Can't…breathe…" he gasped out. A small grin hovered on his lips as Skye embraced him.

"Sorry" Skye immediately released him, but she didn't look sorry at all.

"S'okay" Ward wrapped his arms around her as best he could.

"I love you," he whispered quietly.

"I love you too" Skye responded, her voice muffled by Ward's shoulder.

_You must love me_

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_Thank you so much for reading! This plot bunny was hopping around my brain so I decided to release it. My other Ward/Skye story will be updated very soon!_


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